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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2006, Vol. 6, No. 253 | |||||||||
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Our reader's opinions
Major cases there show U.S. court process is slow Dear A.M. Costa Rica: It amazes me how Mr. Jeff Lindheimer titles Costa Rica and its court-system with “kangaroo-court judgments.” There are two issues to look at: “greed” of investors, and, yes, the judicial follow-up. I want to remind Mr. Lindheimer: Enron, Tyco, Adelphia, Worldcom, how many more do you need. In 2000 a receiver was appointed for a company in Florida, PRSI, that defrauded 60,000-plus people. As off today, it still is in the system. Some people are sentenced. The “found” money of close to $6 million is now down to $2.7 million (thanks to paying only fees to lawyers/research to find millions more???) and not one cent yet to any of 60,000 people. And that’s only one of possible thousands of cases pending for years, and eating away on the remaining funds. Where is the difference about “kangaroo- court-system” Mr. Lindheimer? Why looking down on this great little country? Please, with opinions like yours, stay in beautiful Pittsburgh. And yes, I’ve been in your town. Holger Speth
Puravida Costa Rica Bashing America in style but opinions require work Dear A.M. Costa Rica: The letter from Dave Grozanick Wednesday moved me to take a little time to write. I agree with him. While some actions by the Americans are worthy of public criticism, many of the actions by the left go on unnoticed, brushed under the carpet or totally ignored. There seems to be a larger pull to criticize America these days, kind of fashionable, like wearing an El Che “T” shirt or a tattoo. I do not know the answer of why it appears more attractive to bash the Americans. After all, these days tattoos are considered sexy while for the most part, they used to be the product of an irresponsible act performed while under the influence. Maybe today the left is being far more vocal praising their good deeds while the right is too busy working or waging war. We can go as far back as Stalin and Mao as mentioned by Dave Grozanick but we can also look at the not so ancient, like Che Guevara and Fidel Castro. In today’s world of Internet, an interested party can look at “Che Guevara – Anatomia de un Mito” by Luis Guardia (book or video at www.youtube.com ) and see El Che in black and white, in action, expressing his views in person, as well as his published letters, personal testimonies of many of his co-revolutionaries from the Granma expedition to his death in Bolivia. Rather than believing whatever I can write about El Che, hear it directly from El Che and his friends, then form an opinion about whether to wear the shirt or not. I am sure you can find other articles praising his good qualities as well, Castro has seen to it and made it a profitable venture. I am sure also that Stalin’s and Mao’s families saw a soft side of those considered criminals of Machiavellian proportions by others. Google “Las Torturas de Castro” or “Victims of the Tugboat 13 de Marzo.” If you look a bit harder you can find the list of those executed by Che, Fidel and Raul. Look at Martires Pinareños and you can also find the list of those executed by Batista or executed in the attempt to kill Batista in Havana’s Palacio Presidencial. To their mothers, fathers and revolutionary buddies they were heroes, to Batista’s family members and members of their government mere assassins. Since these actions happened over 40 years ago there is little reason why any young person would hesitate to wear a shirt with El Che, opine positively on the good that Castro has done for the Cubans and not think once that they could be just as well be wearing a shirt with a swastika or a picture of the concentration camps through the streets of Israel . . . making a statement. But that may be too much work, it is easier to buy the “T” shirt and point to something close by. L. Mambi
Investors should respect Costa Rica as host nation Dear A.M. Costa Rica: A few legal aspects from the Villalobos case The letter that answers the A.M. Costa Rica story about the Villalobos scam shows the ignorance of a few of the investors in the case. If that person doesn't have any trust in the court system, they should at least be respectful about their host country and not show their ignorance of the legal system in Costa Rica and the United States. To answer his doubts, a court judgment in either country can be enforced in another country as long as it goes through the international process called an execuatur. This basically is an additional process that goes through the consulate and the Ministry of Foreign Relations and then to the court in the country where it will be enforced. The judge will then sign and approve the document and make it legal to be enforced in that country. As to the ability to be sued for the expenses and damages caused to the brothers or the other identical businesses such as the Savings Unlimited case if investors withdraw their claims: Anyone who files a claim against another person or company and then withdraws from it unilaterally can be subject to a lawsuit for civil damages and expenses. This fraud was committed in Costa Rica, and Costa Rica is the country that has jurisdiction over the case, not the U.S.A., Canada or Zimbabwe. I also doubt that they would be arrested in USA soil. The failures and slowness in the court system is common in both countries and this Captain Kangaroo that submits a letter to A.M. Costa Rica should limit his anger and direct it to filing and investigating the case. P.S. If he is still waiting for these guys to come back and return the money, then I have a statue in La Sabana that I would like to sell him. Lic. Gregory Kearney Lawson
Attorney at law, San José |
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| A.M. Costa Rica third newspage |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2006, Vol. 6, No. 253 | |||||||||
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| Drake
Bay hotel will become marine research center May 1 |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A hotel in the Osa Peninsula is closing down so the facility can be devoted to research on the declining number of sea creatures, according to the owner. The owner, Sierra Goodman, who also founder of Fundación Vida Marina, said Wednesday that her Delfin Amor Eco Lodge in Drake Bay will be converted May 1 from a hotel into a marine education and research center. Vida Marina is a non-profit foundation that is trying to create a marine sanctuary in the Drake Bay and surrounding areas. Ms. Goodman reported that the decision to change the building's purpose is part of an effort to concentrate entirely on protecting and conserving marine life in the area. During the last eight years, the foundation has recorded some disturbing changes in the ecology of the Drake Bay and has decided to take action, said a report from Vida Marina. |
Some of the changes in the area
include a decrease in the Olive Ridley
Green Sea Turtles by more than 75 percent, an increase in injured and
dead dolphins, baby humpbacks covered in fishing line, as well as
reports from fisherman that the fish stocks are down, said the
foundation. The foundation said that it will continue to provide dolphin and whale tours, which are available from most hotels in the Drake Bay area. The Vida Marina staff emphasized that attending the tours contributes directly to the protection and conservation of Drake Bay and the surrounding waters. The former cabinas of the hotel are to be used for marine biology students, interns, dolphin and whale camps, visiting scientists and volunteers, said Ms. Goodman. She also said that the foundation is in search of start up funds for the work on the marine sanctuary project. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2006, Vol. 6, No. 253 | |||||||||
| Panamá
and United States reach a free trade agreement |
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Special to A.M. Costa Rica
The United States has reached a free-trade agreement with Panamá that officials said promises to boost trade and investment flows between the two nations and expand the reach of U.S. economic zone in Latin America. “The historic agreement between two good friends and close partners will promote economic growth and development in both of our countries,” said U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab. Ms. Schwab said, however, that the agreement is subject to additional discussions on labor. Labor and environmental issues related to trade agreements have proved to be controversial in the U.S. Congress, which now must approve the pact. Democrats, who now control both the Senate and House of Representatives, generally have supported stronger labor and environmental provisions than those negotiated by the administration. In addition to the agreement with Panamá, the new Congress will need to address similar deals with Colombia and Peru when it convenes next month. “We strongly support the agreement and urge both legislatures to give it a resounding yes,” said Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas. The council is a business group promoting democracy, open markets, and the rule of law throughout the Americas. Farnsworth said that, on the 17th anniversary of Operation Just Cause (the U.S. invasion of Panamá), the current deal “neatly encapsulates the evolving and maturing U.S. relationship with Latin America.” In the near term, passage of the accord is not likely to affect trade flows from Panamá significantly because 95 percent of Panamanian exports already enjoy duty-free access to the U.S. market. The pact, however, would expand and secure for the long-term those benefits, which now require periodic congressional approval, according to a news release issued by the Trade Represenative's Office. |
In addition, Panamá would be
able to export duty-free to the U.S.
market nearly all of its sugar production compared with three-quarters
of its output now, according the American Sugar Alliance. The sugar
provision is considered by trade experts a win for Panamá
because the
United States limits sugar imports to keep domestic prices higher than
those set in world markets. U.S. sugar producers, who in 2005 lobbied against the U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement because the countries involved also are sugar-producers, have said they are not opposed to the trade deal with Panamá. In addition, according to a U.S. trade official, the new agreement would guarantee that Panama’s construction firms receive 10 percent of the contracts to modernize and expand the Panama Canal, which until 1999 was U.S. territory. Under the deal, U.S. companies also would have an opportunity to participate in the undertaking, which the U.S. Chamber of Commerce calls “one of the most important infrastructure projects in the hemisphere”. In October, the Panamanians approved in a referendum the $5.3 billion canal expansion plan, which would double its capacity and enable larger ships to cross between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The agreement also would put U.S.-Panamanian trade on a reciprocal, mutually beneficial footing, said Dan Christman, vice president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the largest U.S. business lobbying group. More than 88 percent of U.S. exports of consumer and industrial goods to Panama would become duty-free immediately, with remaining tariffs phased out over 10 years. Panama also would expand market access substantially across the entire range of services, including financial services. More than half of all U.S. farm exports to Panama would become duty-free once the agreement enters into force and tariffs on remaining agricultural products would be phased out within 15 years, according to a prepared statement by U.S. Agricultural Secretary Mike Johanns. |
| Chávez
disputes claim by U.S. ambassador that cocaine trafficking on rise |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has accused the U.S. ambassador to his country of lying about increased drug trafficking in Venezuela. Chávez said Wednesday that the ambassador, William Brownfield, should retract his statements if the United States really wants improved U.S.-Venezuela relations. |
Earlier this week, Brownfield said
cocaine shipments in Venezuela have
drastically increased since the country stopped cooperating with the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Chávez called those
statements
false. Since his re-election earlier this month, the United States has said it hoped to improve relations with the Chávez government. Chávez has been a strong critic of the United States |
| Former
dictator in Uruguay ordered to stand trial in more dissident murders |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
A court in Uruguay has ruled that former president Juan María Bordaberry will stand trial for the murder of 10 more political dissidents during his rule in the 1970s. Bordaberry is already in jail and awaiting trial for his alleged role in four political killings in 1976. One of his top aides, former foreign minister Juan Carlos Blanco, is |
also facing charges for those deaths. Bordaberry was elected president in 1971. In June 1973, he dissolved Uruguay's Congress and began a repressive campaign against dissidents. Bordaberry was pushed out of power by the military in 1976. Democracy returned to Uruguay in 1985 with the election of President Julio Sanguinetti. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Thursday, Dec. 21, 2006, Vol. 6, No. 253 | ||||||
| Saprissa
posts a win, and La Liga looks to rematch Saturday |
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Deportivo Saprissa with the advantage of playing in its own Estadio Ricardo Saprissa in Tibás shut out Liga Deportiva Alajuelense, 2-0, Wednesday night. This was a game in the Torneo de Apertura and the 250th meeting of these two clubs that have dominated Costa Rican Fútbol. The teams meet again to decide the championship Saturday |
at 8 p.m. in the Estadio Alejandro
Morera Soto There were no goals in the first half of the 8 p.m. game. In the second half, Alonso Solís had the first chance to put in a goal for Saprissa but the kick was off the mark. Solís quickly got a second chance with a penalty kick, and got the goal. A Try Benneth pass let Allan Alemán pad the score with one more goal. |
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